Chapter Thirty-Nine: Vina's Plans for Chen Qi-and Her Resentment? / Chapter Forty: Theresis's Discussion About "Yes, Prime Minister"

At this moment, in an office of Rhodes Island's Medical Department, Kal'tsit—a veteran figure of Rhodes Island and the Medical Department's principal leader—was not busily working in an operating room as usual. Rarely, she sat in her office, watching a television drama called "Yes, Prime Minister."

Beside Kal'tsit, Amiya, the leader of Rhodes Island, sat obediently at her side like a well-behaved child, accompanying her as she watched this Victorian political comedy and occasionally bursting into laughter.

Soon, after all four episodes had finished playing, Kal'tsit, whose expression had remained utterly unchanged throughout, silently turned off the television. She then looked at Amiya, who was still grinning and clearly wanted more, and asked:

"Amiya, is this the new television drama Victoria has released?"

"Ah, yes." Amiya, who had not yet completely escaped the afterglow of her laughter, immediately came back to herself at Kal'tsit's words and carefully answered:

"Miss Vina said this was Victoria's new drama, and that Theresis personally starred in it. It was meant to undermine Londinium's citizens' confidence in Victoria."

"...That was undoubtedly Theresis." Kal'tsit did not rush to refute or agree with anything. She merely said:

"The one playing Secretary Bernard was Manfred. And the other person, if I was not mistaken, was the Bloodborne Archon."

"They were both Theresis's right-hand men, but their attitudes toward him were rather complicated... Manfred supported Theresis's military strategy, but politically he favored Theresia more. He was actually a supporter of dual-monarch rule."

"As for the Bloodborne Archon, he was one of the Bloodborne kings of the royal court. He supported neither Theresis nor Theresia. He was merely a Sarkaz supremacist who followed Theresis for the sake of restoring the Sarkaz's former glory and seeking revenge."

"If they both supported Theresis's ideas, then undoubtedly, they had recognized this drama's potential. They were trying to squeeze the knowledge they needed from this director."

"Knowledge?" Amiya grew somewhat nervous at those words. She had seen unease in Kal'tsit's eyes, which were normally calm and seemed to hold everything under control, and hurriedly asked:

"But... it's only a comedy, Doctor Kal'tsit. Aren't you being too sensitive?"

"Amiya, any subject in this world becomes complicated once it becomes entangled with politics." Kal'tsit shook her head. She did not believe a television drama personally starring Theresis was merely the product of his personal interest. To reach his current position, Theresis had to be rational enough. He would never act on impulse.

"Amiya, you need to understand that on this land, there were very few countries that were relatively tolerant regarding the spread of information. And when it came to politics, not a single country allowed ordinary people access to it."

"No country had ever offered political education. Combined with the isolation of information between mobile cities, ordinary people had very few chances to come into contact with politics—until this drama appeared."

"Amiya, do you know what this means? It means this drama starring Theresis will become the only political drama on Terra. This political drama disguised as a comedy exposed the essence of politics to everyone—checks and balances."

"And letting everyone understand politics might not be a bad thing. But for Theresis, it was absolutely a good thing."

"Why?" Amiya did not quite understand, while Kal'tsit spoke word by word with a frosty expression:

"Because he currently occupied Londinium. Revealing the darkness and flaws of Victoria's government at this moment would certainly be of enormous help to his subsequent plans to seize control of all Victoria."

"Before this, no civilian understood politics. They knew nothing about the government or the people ruling them. But now, if they learned that the people ruling them were a group who secretly manipulated everything, treating citizens' lives as numbers and money while laughing and chatting, Amiya, what do you think would happen?"

"Especially when Theresis had taken Londinium, Victoria's capital, with practically no bloodshed. What do you think Londinium's residents would think?"

The more Kal'tsit spoke, the more she felt that Theresis's move was utterly beyond prediction. Even Kal'tsit began to feel that things were slipping out of control, and she said with a trace of tension:

"And after this drama spread beyond Victoria into other countries, what upheaval would it cause? If citizens of other countries also came to believe, because of this drama, that their own leaders were the same, what would happen?"

"This..." Amiya truly had not considered that possibility. She vaguely sensed a hidden danger, but still retained a trace of naive hope as she said:

"But it's only a television drama. Even if it's the first political drama, it couldn't possibly..."

"Amiya, people who had never received this kind of education and had just opened the door to a new world were always fanatical." Kal'tsit held a completely different view. She frowned slightly and said:

"Besides, this drama was now spreading through Victoria. That was clearly Theresis's method. He was pushing this drama across all of Victoria so it could then spread through Victoria into every other country."

"And banning it would be useless. Its approval throughout Victoria meant people would always find a way to watch it. Even Rhodes Island could watch it whenever we wanted. That alone showed how wide its reach was."

As Kal'tsit spoke, her brows remained tightly furrowed. She did not know what the next step should be. She had watched "Yes, Prime Minister," and she had keenly realized why Theresis valued this drama so highly.

She feared that more than one country's highest rulers and Civil Service System were already on full alert, continuously watching "Yes, Prime Minister," Terra's only political drama. The impact of this show would be nothing less than explosive for every country.

Especially former great powers that had once been glorious but had now fallen into decline... Iberia, Leithania, Ursus, and so on... Would their citizens come to believe that their countries' lost glory was actually caused by the corruption and incompetence of their respective Civil Service Systems?

Knock, knock, knock! At that moment, a sudden knock interrupted Kal'tsit and Amiya's conversation. Before the two women could respond, Vina entered the office alone, carrying a warhammer.

"Doctor Kal'tsit, I want to discuss..."

""Yes, Prime Minister," correct?" Kal'tsit interrupted Vina. After learning Vina's identity, she had understood that Vina would certainly come to her because of this drama.

"I know this is a serious issue. Once this information reaches Ursus, Leithania... in the worst-case scenario, a great war centered around Victoria and sweeping across half the nations of this land could begin. They would always use such methods to redirect internal conflicts. By then, whether Victoria still existed or not, many innocent people would inevitably suffer disaster. It had to be stopped."

"But the problem is that this drama is currently airing throughout Victoria. It will be difficult for us to stop it."

"I have a plan." Vina, however, had ideas of her own. She immediately said to Kal'tsit:

"That production crew must be somewhere within Londinium. As long as we can send an elite force to infiltrate Londinium, kidnap the screenwriter and director from that crew, then blow up Londinium Television Station, Theresis will have no way to continue broadcasting "Yes, Prime Minister" through Londinium's authorization."

"And once he loses the screenwriter and director, he will not only lose all the original material and be unable to rerun it, but also lose the people capable of creating new work. His plan will be completely ruined."

"...I'm surprised you don't intend to kill the screenwriter." Kal'tsit did not immediately reject the proposal. She was genuinely considering its feasibility, but she deliberately asked Vina this question in an even tone:

"I thought you would hate this drama's screenwriter to the bone."

"...I do. I just think letting him die so easily would be too cheap for him."

Vina fell silent for a moment, then bit her lollipop to pieces and said flatly, "Theresis used him to mock Victoria. But in the future, I will need him to atone, using his talent to help me restore the Victorian people's confidence."

"So I won't let him die. Besides... I also know that unless he deliberately chose to cooperate with Theresis during such an extraordinary time, everything he mocked was a problem Victoria's government had exposed."

"In the future, I will need his wisdom and insight. If Theresis can use him, then so can I."

"A wise choice."

Kal'tsit nodded faintly. She did not raise any objection to Vina's bold plan. On the contrary, she strongly supported Vina's view.

No matter what, before this drama could create a greater impact, they had to smother everything in the cradle as much as possible. This time, Kal'tsit greatly agreed with Vina. This land could not withstand greater turmoil.

"I will dispatch an elite squad to Londinium with you. Your mission will be to infiltrate Londinium and contact the production crew with as little disturbance as possible."

"First, we'll see what their attitude is. Perhaps they were coerced by Theresis." Kal'tsit still considered this possibility. After all, given Terra's current situation, the Sarkaz had a terrible reputation. Few races besides the Sarkaz themselves dealt with them, much less someone as dangerous as Theresis.

Therefore, if the production crew was willing to cooperate, perhaps casualties could be minimized. Their elite squad would not need to advance while taking such great risks.

"I'll make the arrangements. I only need to know who the production crew's director and screenwriter are, what they look like, and their names."

As a Victorian, Vina was naturally extremely familiar with Londinium's terrain and would personally lead the team. However, she did not know the people who had made this drama. At the critical moment, if she could not guarantee that everyone from the production crew would be brought out, she would certainly prioritize the important people first.

"I've already investigated. This production crew is called the Integrated Cultural Troupe. It is a crew transformed from the former infected militant organization, the Reunion Movement."

Kal'tsit had long made such preparations, so she immediately shared her intelligence with Vina and said calmly:

"The crew's screenwriter and director are the same person, a Yan national named Chen Qi."

"I think we can discuss this information with Lungmen's ruler. Talulah, the former leader of the Reunion Movement where the Integrated Cultural Troupe came from, is still with the crew. Perhaps we can find more assistance."

"...I'll remember that."

Vina nodded, memorizing the name "Chen Qi," while already forming a way to "deal with" him in her mind.

She would make that man use his abilities to slowly restore the confidence that "Yes, Prime Minister" had robbed from the Victorian people. Otherwise, once she reclaimed the throne in the future, she would make him rack his brains and work in her country's film and television industry for the rest of his life! Until she felt he had compensated enough!

Of course, when she found him, she would beat him up first. With a plan in mind, Vina unconsciously tightened her grip around the handle of her long warhammer...

Theresis's Discussion Meeting on "Yes, Prime Minister"

Meanwhile, what was Theresis's group in Londinium doing? As he had the previous week, he had summoned every Sarkaz officer of centurion rank or above from the Sarkaz legions across Londinium. They occupied Londinium's assembly hall and held a grand meeting.

It could be said that if someone placed a high-yield Originium bomb in Londinium's meeting hall at this moment, they could blow half of Kazdel's history clean out of existence.

Unfortunately, the woman who most wanted to blow Theresis to death was not in Londinium, nor had she planted a bomb here. Yet the purpose of the massive meeting Theresis had convened was not to discuss future development.

All those Sarkaz, regardless of their faction or which royal court king's bloodline they belonged to, were watching the same work on the screen in the conference hall—"Yes, Prime Minister."

This drama, personally performed by Theresis, Manfred, and the Bloodborne Archon—three Sarkaz of high standing in Kazdel—held extraordinary meaning for all Sarkaz.

Most Sarkaz had begun as mercenaries or scavengers. They had learned killing amid battle and survival, but they had not forgotten flattery and social etiquette. Regarding a work starring their superiors, no matter how terrible it was, they had to put on an utterly astonished expression and praise their superiors' acting.

However, beginning last week, the Sarkaz higher-ups had initially approached it expecting a terrible show and only wishing to see their superiors perform. Yet after watching two episodes of "Yes, Prime Minister," these Sarkaz, whose minds contained nothing but war and slaughter, had immediately opened the door to a new world...

It had to be said that only a handful of major powers on Terra possessed complete political systems. The rest had either collapsed alongside their nations' decline or remained scattered family and tribal groups with only internal rules of their own.

Of course, Terra's nations had become like this due to a series of factors: frequent Catastrophes, the false sky, isolated information between mobile cities, and so on. It could only be said that even a small temple had plenty of monsters.

Yet information was so isolated that communication between mobile cities could almost only be accomplished by messengers. Even Chen from Lungmen had only been able to contact Chen Qi directly because Chen Qi's phone had been provided by the system. He had told Chen that his phone used special technology from Columbia, allowing communication across countless miles.

After saying all that, even a nation like Kazdel had been destroyed several times in war, causing its original political system to collapse completely. Even with Theresia and Theresis working together, they could only rebuild their homeland step by step before considering political matters.

After all, if they could not even unite the Sarkaz or restore their homeland, how could they gradually restore the functioning of a political system?

But now, Theresis saw hope! A textbook-like guide that could help them rapidly restore a political system of their own.

And that textbook was called "Victoria"! "Yes, Prime Minister" was its analysis!

"Everyone, I believe you have all finished watching the third and fourth episodes."

Theresis reviewed his own performance once more, then turned his gaze toward the gathered Sarkaz higher-ups and said evenly:

"What did each of you see in these two episodes? Speak freely."

"You are the Sarkaz elite, veterans who have emerged from countless battlefields of life and death. I believe your insights can be more incisive and professional."

"Your Highness the Regent, I believe the Ministry of Finance is the first issue that requires our attention."

After Theresis finished speaking, the Sarkaz exchanged looks for a moment. Finally, the Bloodborne Archon, who had also acted in "Yes, Prime Minister" and sat in the front row closest to Theresis, spoke first.

He elegantly lifted a wineglass filled with blood and said leisurely:

"Judging from the drama, Victoria's political system clearly has a hierarchy among its various departments. This is something we may be unable to avoid in the future as well. And the Ministry of Finance, which controls a country's taxes and money, is undoubtedly the most prestigious."

"We should appoint the most trustworthy and capable people as ministers of the several most important departments. Furthermore, the secretaries of those departments must be appointed by the government."

Playing "Humphrey," a role who stood at the very pinnacle of Victoria's civil servants, had suddenly made the Bloodborne Archon find enjoyment in otherwise boring politics during this period—contradicting Theresis.

Yes, that was the Bloodborne Archon's enjoyment. In "Yes, Prime Minister," Humphrey often used sentences packed with technical terms to fob off the prime minister. Chen Qi called these "long, difficult sentences," and they were the most challenging lines for Humphrey's character.

However, the Bloodborne Archon possessed perfect recall, so this posed no difficulty for him at all. In the past, constrained by his current position and Theresis's status, he could not defy Theresis. But while acting, getting to enjoy Theresis's bewildered expression had become the Bloodborne Archon's new pleasure.

Of course, after playing Humphrey for so long, the Bloodborne Archon had naturally developed other impressions—that Humphrey's authority as Cabinet Secretary was far too great.

In the fourth episode of "Yes, Prime Minister," Humphrey, as Cabinet Secretary, possessed the responsibility and authority to transfer, promote, and recruit personnel. This meant he could freely plant people who supported his own side throughout the Civil Service System.

Giving such power to a Cabinet Secretary was undoubtedly excessive. If the Cabinet Secretary were a loyal minister wholeheartedly devoted to the nation, that would be one thing, but... what if he were someone like Humphrey?

"At the present time, I am willing to believe there are people who would dedicate themselves selflessly to the Sarkaz revival." The Bloodborne Archon spoke calmly.

"But if one day Kazdel is restored, and their hearts become corrupted like Victoria's officials, then where will the Sarkaz's fate lead?"

"The Cabinet Secretary's authority must be reduced." Theresis nodded, then added:

"But correspondingly, we cannot allow the Ministry of Finance to dominate alone. Having a Cabinet Secretary with equal authority entangled with several other important departments can also ensure no single department becomes too powerful."

"At the same time, the prime minister's authority must be consolidated, but decisions cannot be made solely by the prime minister. A nation where one person decides everything may be suitable for war, but it is detrimental to governing."

"We can discuss that slowly later. Ber... Manfred, write that down."

Theresis nodded. What he had gleaned from "Yes, Prime Minister" was the most crucial thing about politics—"checks and balances." Only by balancing the distribution of power among various departments could a political system continue operating steadily. No matter who was absent, no matter what key person was missing, it could continue functioning.

Manfred, as someone Theresis had personally promoted, was now doing secretarial work.

Manfred did not know whether it was merely an illusion, but he vaguely felt that Theresis was truly getting used to treating him as "Bernard," his private secretary.

And Manfred had helplessly accepted that identity. Now, he was not only a general of Kazdel's Military Commission, but also Theresis's private secretary... because like Bernard, he truly stood on Theresis's side.

With the Bloodborne Archon having opened the discussion, the Sarkaz in the assembly gradually began voicing their own insights.

"Your Highness the Regent, regarding Originium taxes, I believe we should not suppress the Originium industry. On the contrary, if Originium taxes can support so many positions and interests within a nation, then industries related to Originium should be allowed to exist."

Theresis: "A sensible suggestion. This will certainly be useful after Kazdel is rebuilt in the future. First, we will solve the problem of self-sufficiency, then immediately expand Originium trade. I will appoint you director of the future Originium Industry Bureau."

"Your Highness the Regent, regarding pensions and social security funds, I think we cannot wholly reject the views in the drama. Maintaining a certain death rate is certainly something we will need to consider in the future. The Sarkaz's lifespan and physical strength far surpass those of many races. A retirement age specifically for the Sarkaz should be established."

Theresis: "We must also consider infection levels. I do not want my people to die from Oripathy before they even reach retirement. Next."

"Your Highness the Regent, regarding corruption within the Civil Service System, I think..."

As one Sarkaz after another in the assembly spoke, Theresis discussed each point and Manfred recorded them one by one. Soon, as time passed, the discussion of the third and fourth episodes of "Yes, Prime Minister" finally came to an end.

Manfred had recorded enough information to fill half a notebook, yet he did not feel tired in the slightest. Instead, he said with a trace of delight:

"These... are the wisdom needed for Kazdel's future revival and the rebuilding of our government."

"Manfred, your responsibility is enormous. In the future, you may no longer continue as a general. You will become the commander of the Civil Service System."

Theresis answered evenly. He had always trained Manfred in both civil and military matters. If the Sarkaz truly no longer needed to fight on battlefields in the future, then Manfred would be Theresis's most trusted "Cabinet Secretary."

"Then, after being 'prime minister' for two weeks, doesn't our 'prime minister' have any insights of his own?"

At this moment, however, the Bloodborne Archon turned to Theresis and asked with the cold, sinister smile unique to his kind, "As Kazdel's current Regent, shouldn't you offer a few suggestions?"

"...Then I really do have one insight."

Facing the Bloodborne Archon's barbed words, Theresis merely twitched his lips without concern and coldly uttered one sentence: