Directing on the Ark, Success is Not Being Banned Chapter 26

Even remarks like "It seems the demons aren't so bad for them after all" have begun to circulate in Londinium. This caused everyone in the Self-Rescue Army to hate Theresis even more, while also making them feel even more resentful towards the writers and director of "Yes, Prime Minister"... yet they were powerless.

Moreover, whether it was Aldehyde or the others in the Self-Rescue Army, they all had to admit that the satire of the Victorian government in "Yes, Prime Minister" was actually real—no one knew this better than Aldehyde, the daughter of a Duke.

Looming over them was the invisible pressure of "public opinion," and this pressure was subtly and bloodlessly turning all their advantages into nothing... and they didn't even know how to fight back.

Because all the public opinion advantage was now in Theresis's hands, they were even afraid to turn on the television, terrified of attracting the attention of Theresis or other Sarkaz. How could they then vindicate Victoria?

"Don't be angry, Aldehyde... look at it from another angle. The Sarkaz have temporarily halted their pursuit of us, and the persecution of everyone in Londinium has also lessened considerably. This isn't a bad thing."

At this moment, Vina, the young girl who was the commander of the Self-Rescue Army and possibly a divine race of Unicorn, comforted Aldehyde:

"Now, Theresis believes everything is under control. We must seize this moment of respite and, while the Sarkaz are being careless, collect as much information as possible about that screenwriter."

"Mhm, our people have already found the hotel where that film crew is staying, but they are very well protected."

Beside her, a Feline youth named "Frost" (codename: White Iron) nodded and said, "Not only are there Sarkaz guards, but the film crew itself has quite a few armed personnel. I saw a Sarkaz as tall as a small mountain, and his guards were protecting the hotel. A frontal assault is impossible."

"...We must wait for the right time. We need more intelligence," Vina knew that all they could do now was continue to scrape by, and had no other opportunities. She could only say:

"Everyone, let's keep watching. I think the first four episodes of this TV series have already satirized everything they could... even if they repeat the same tropes, the effect probably won't be as good."

"That's true. The third and fourth episodes are clearly not as sharp as the earlier ones. That screenwriter definitely has no new tricks."

Vina's words were quickly echoed by everyone in the Self-Rescue Army, but Aldehyde had a vague feeling... that things weren't that simple.

As "Yes, Prime Minister" aired on television, the fifth episode soon slowly unfolded.

The content of the fifth episode quickly turned to a sharp issue—to solve the economic crisis, Prime Minister Hark, played by Theresis, had to cut the budgets of various government departments, which would inevitably cause upheaval in those departments because no one wanted to reduce their funding.

The troubled Hark complained bitterly, "Bernard, Humphrey should have foreseen this warning."

"I don't think he understands economics, Prime Minister. Sir Humphrey studied classical literature," Manfred, playing Bernard, replied after putting down his files and taking a large glass of whiskey.

Theresis: "What about Sir Frank? He's the head of the Treasury."

"—Then it's even less likely he understands economics. He's an economist."

Theresis found it absurd that when it came to the economic crisis, departments hadn't anticipated that spending cuts would affect them and opposed it. He, as Prime Minister, didn't even have the authority to make this decision.

"A leader can only listen to others' opinions and obey the majority. This is the so-called 'Victorian Method of Governance'."

"Then if you're not responsible, who is?" Theresis's wife, transformed by a Shapeshifter, asked him.

"No one is responsible," Theresis shrugged and said matter-of-factly, "That's the purpose of the 'Victorian Method of Governance'."

What angered the Prime Minister even more, undoubtedly, was that at this time, the backbenchers also proposed a salary increase. When it came to the backbenchers, Theresis spared no effort in describing their corrupt image.

"Being a Member of Parliament is a top-tier sinecure that brings both fame and fortune—no qualification assessments, no fixed working hours, no evaluation standards. They feed a bunch of egomaniacs and busybodies with comfortable rooms and fine food."

"How could they be underpaid? There are at least two hundred applicants for each position. Even if this position were for sale, it could be sold at least twenty times!"

Right from the start, Theresis's sharp commentary shattered Aldehyde and Vina's illusions. In less than three minutes, Theresis was extensively denigrating the backbenchers in the TV series, even completely smearing their image.

"Damn Theresis!" Aldehyde thought to herself. However, she didn't interact much with backbenchers and simply couldn't believe that Victoria's MPs would be as despicable as Theresis claimed.

This is slander! It must be slander! Aldehyde thought to herself.

Meanwhile, on Rhodes Island, which was heading towards Victoria from afar, Vina was watching "Yes, Prime Minister" with Amiya and the others. Amiya curiously turned her head and asked the Victorian Crown Prince beside her:

"Miss Vina, um, are the MPs really like that?"

"...More or less. I can't refute that," Vina replied indifferently. This time, she didn't feel it was a smear; it was just the truth.

Kal'tsit remained silent, watching quietly. What relieved her for the moment was that the fifth episode hadn't contained anything too explosive yet, but she still felt a vague sense of unease...

"Is it just my imagination? I hope he knows when to hold back," Kal'tsit thought to herself, but judging from the scale of the previous four episodes, she felt this wasn't Chen Qi's limit yet.

Elsewhere, outside of Rhodes Island, Lungmen's Wei Yanyu, Wenyue, and Chen Huijie were also watching "Yes, Prime Minister." Seeing this, even Wei Yanyu showed a rare expression of surprise and couldn't help but say:

"...That kid Chen Qi's guts are getting bigger and bigger, and he's daring to film more and more. Isn't he afraid of offending all the politicians in Victoria and other countries with similar systems because of this drama?"

"That idiot... why is Little Tower willing to follow that person?"

Although Chen Huijie only half-understood, she still felt the immense scale of Chen Qi's current TV series. He was already touching upon the "unspoken rules" of many countries, and how much impact would revealing these rules have on him and Little Tower...

However, none of them could have imagined that this was just the beginning. More explosive content still awaited them...

Chapter 43: Exposing the Corruption of Victorian Civil Servants

Now, everyone who was paying attention to "Yes, Prime Minister," whether they knew it was a TV series filmed by Chen Qi or not, understood one thing: with the scale of this TV series, it was definitely just the beginning.

But criticizing MPs was, in a way, already very bold. And the character played by Theresis, due to his "Prime Minister" identity, his comments on MPs could be so accurate they were laughable.

"I'm actually hoping that a creator's work isn't so sharp... and I also worry that the turmoil caused by this work will bring more unforeseen consequences to this land."

Kal'tsit rubbed her eyes, feeling a bit tired. Chen Qi's previous films, whether it was "The Godfather" or "Young and Dangerous," hadn't really piqued Kal'tsit's interest much. Even on Rhodes Island, Chen Qi, as a director, was already quite famous, with many operators being his fans.

But before "Yes, Prime Minister" appeared, Kal'tsit never expected a TV series could cause such great upheaval. Now, unable to stop anything, she could only pray that Chen Qi would restrain himself and not reveal all of Victoria's secrets...

But the problem was, everyone could see that the purpose of this drama was to reveal all of Victoria's secrets. Theresis undoubtedly had this goal. Kal'tsit could only hope that when they arrived, there would still be time for damage control.

As the plot progressed, Theresis managed to fob off the backbenchers' request for a salary increase. But at this moment, Humphrey, played by the Bloodborne Archon, and Frank, the Treasury Secretary, together, at this inopportune time, planned a "civil servant salary increase plan."

As the heads of the civil service, Frank and Humphrey were not only beneficiaries but also the greatest beneficiaries. Naturally, they had no reason not to support this plan.

"Of course, we don't care about personal gain," the Bloodborne Archon said with a righteous air. Although everyone knew they were the biggest gainers, they still put on a show of barely suppressing a smile and acting with great integrity, saying, "But one must consider their junior colleagues. Isn't that ironic, Frank?"

"To work for them, we had to give them a raise too, even though we don't care! And then we're called selfish exploiters."

"This is also a crime we have to bear." Frank, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, couldn't help but chuckle as he exchanged a knowing glance with the Bloodborne Archon. They both knew the truth, yet they presented it so righteously, making countless families watching the show burst into laughter along with the canned laughter from the television.

In an instant, whether it was the Self-Rescue Army, Rhodes Island, Lungmen, or anywhere else, many people were amused by this scene and burst into laughter. It was clearly a matter of forming factions for personal gain, and no one expected it to be portrayed so humorously.

However, soon after, the two old Volpo (foxes) conferred and decided to submit the plan before the restrictions took effect, and specifically before the cabinet meeting, right before closing time. This way, they could ensure that no one would scrutinize the plan.

This incident, however, alerted Theresis, as this wasn't the first time they had submitted a plan right before closing time to bypass the cabinet meeting. Thus, Theresis directly questioned the Bloodborne Archon.

However, facing Theresis's questioning, the Bloodborne Archon remained calm and collected, having already prepared a response: "But Prime Minister, as the Cabinet Secretary, I am also eager to cut public spending."

"But as the head of civil servants, I have to be responsible for the administrative crisis at hand, if the salary increase plan cannot be passed quickly."

As he spoke, the Bloodborne Archon put on a troubled expression and deliberately said, "It's really difficult for me, you see, I have two titles."

"That's true, you must be difficult to deal with, aren't you?" Theresis was clearly not convinced by the Bloodborne Archon's rhetoric and said thoughtfully.

"No, not if I had two brains." The Bloodborne Archon did not seem intimidated by the Prime Minister and instead took the opportunity to boast about his own intelligence and competence. At this moment, Manfred, who was standing beside them, couldn't hold back and immediately exposed him:

"—Or two faces."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Manfred's sudden disruption caused a burst of laughter. This time, whether it was Vina and Amiya from Rhodes Island, or Chen from Lungmen, or the group from the Self-Rescue Army, they were all amused by the sudden exposure.

But immediately after, the Bloodborne Archon began to talk about his difficulties again, stating that civil servant salaries were too low, making it difficult to recruit people. Although there was no shortage of successors for the positions, their quality was questionable.

"Few people have first-class degrees; most only have second-class."

"...I got third-class," Theresis interjected unexpectedly. Manfred, standing beside him, immediately added a finishing blow without thinking:

"That's enough to be Prime Minister, Sir Humphrey was talking about the standards for civil servants."

"Hahahahahaha!" XN

"Bernard—Bernard! How is it that he hasn't been fired yet! Hahaha!"

"Who would betray their leader like this? And betraying two leaders at once!"

"If this continues, he won't be able to survive in this circle. Rather, it's amazing he could become a personal secretary by betraying his leaders like this, haha!"

Instantly, Manfred's two "resignation tricks" as Bernard became the biggest laugh of the episode. This time, even Wei Yanyu was laughing heartily, and even Kal'tsit showed a rare hint of a smile.

"It seems they aren't very harmonious internally." Kal'tsit knew it was just an act, but for some reason, she could still discern something more from the three's performance, perhaps it wasn't entirely acting.

Because while Manfred was also undermining, the Bloodborne Archon's gaze was clearly more severe than Theresis's, even carrying a hint of killing intent... This clearly went beyond the scope of acting. From Kal'tsit's understanding of the Bloodborne Archon, he wasn't good at acting; he only did what he felt.

This meant... the Bloodborne Archon wasn't getting along well with the other two... that was an unexpected gain.

As the plot progressed, Theresis, who had loosened up, temporarily approved the proposal for civil servant salary increases, provided that a neutral committee was also established.

"As the two highest positions among civil servants bear the heaviest burden, their salary increases are also the largest."

The Bloodborne Archon and Frank, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, appeared together again. This time, Kal'tsit had a vague sense of foreboding...

After all, weren't the highest positions among Victorian civil servants themselves?

Indeed, as if to confirm Kal'tsit's guess, the Bloodborne Archon, after receiving the expected salary increase plan, couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "The Deputy Secretary-General got a significant increase... The Permanent Deputy Secretary-General also... And the two highest positions among us..."

At this point, the Bloodborne Archon didn't continue, but Frank picked up where he left off, saying in a calm tone something that sent a chill down their spines:

"That's right—an increase of about 43%."

"No more than we deserve," the Bloodborne Archon replied with a knowing smile. The conversation between the two old Volpo, accompanied by canned laughter, once again filled Rhodes Island with mirth.

But this time, neither Kal'tsit, Wei Yanyu from Lungmen, nor Arredai from the Self-Rescue Army could muster a smile, as they all realized what this 43% increase represented.

Such a salary increase plan would never be approved, and Frank and the Bloodborne Archon even seemed to think the increase wasn't high enough. Clearly, they knew exactly how to get their plan passed—that was what made them nervous.

Was it really going to be exposed to this extent? For a moment, Kal'tsit, Wei Yanyu, Arredai, and many others who were paying attention to the news from "Yes, Prime Minister" were shocked by this scene, feeling a sense of impending doom.

However, immediately after, Frank and the Bloodborne Archon began discussing how to get the plan approved.

For example, the summary provided to the cabinet had to be as thick as a dictionary, consisting of six volumes, and it was to be delivered during the cabinet meeting lunch, ensuring that no one would have time to read the summary.

It didn't stop there; there were also reasonable explanations for setting salaries based on those of executives in Originium mining companies and other high-income corporations. They also arranged for administrative officials, who were also civil servants, to be involved. These individuals, whose interests were aligned, would not refuse the salary increase, thus preventing ministers who received information from their secretaries from noticing anything amiss.

Even the reviewers were in collusion with them. While all these seemed like minor tricks, they were actually a series of effective combined moves that made Kal'tsit, Wei Yanyu, and others who were watching become serious.

"Messengers get a 3.5 Victoria Gold Coin increase per week; Registry clerks get 4.2 Gold Coins per week; Technical officials get 8.2 Gold Coins per week, which is better than nothing."

"—So we're getting a 26,000 Gold Coin annual raise?"

The Bloodborne Archon's summary finally stunned everyone with the most direct number, and they all realized the magnitude of this salary increase.

"A raise of... over 20,000 a year?!"

At Rhodes Island, an operator codenamed "Snow Pheasant" nervously counted her fingers, her eyes turning into spirals. The thought of how much research she could fund with such a high salary almost made the money-strapped girl faint.

"Are civil servants really that rich? If I became a civil servant directly, and did research part-time, would that..."

However, at this moment, no one answered Snow Pheasant's question. Inside Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit couldn't help but sigh. After a moment of silence, she said faintly:

"...Now, I'm afraid all the civil servants in Victoria will hate him."

"Yes, this guy has laid out all their tricks. Once the Victorian civil servants realize what's happening, they'll definitely blame him for exposing all of this." Vina nodded as well, and both of them couldn't help but feel that Chen Qi was too bold.

Although they didn't know where he got this insider information, these unwritten rules unique to civil servants, while known to everyone within the system, were a completely different matter when a TV show brought them to light for the public to see.

And as for Lungmen, after Wei Yanyu read it, he couldn't help but say with lingering fear:

"If my younger brother saw this... he'd probably thoroughly investigate if the Six Ministries had similar issues... If this were broadcast, that kid would really become famous."

"Fortunately, this level isn't enough to reach Yan. This kid... why does he always write things that put me in such a difficult position?"

Chapter 44: Not Over Yet? New Satire, Diplomacy!

"Good thing the fifth episode, 'Civil Servant Salary Increases,' while containing insider information, isn't enough to cause major upheaval."

Soon, half an hour later, the fifth episode of "Yes, Prime Minister" finally concluded. On Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit breathed a sigh of relief. Although this episode satirized the cronyism within Victoria's civil service system, even going so far as to show the Prime Minister, Theresis, getting his share at the end, it was quite sharp.

But fortunately, compared to the famous quotes from the "Prohibition of Originium Tools Order" in the fourth episode... this was already within Kal'tsit's acceptable range; it was considered a light touch.

"Is this really considered a light touch... Doctor Kal'tsit?"

Beside her, Amiya, while comforting the Snow Pheasant who had fallen into a daze watching "Yes, Prime Minister" with them, asked, having heard Kal'tsit's inner thoughts through her Originium Arts:

"If that's the case, aren't you exposing the methods Victoria's civil servants use for salary increases? If they can't use such methods to get raises in the future... won't Victoria's civil servants resent him greatly?"

"...Don't worry, even without this episode, Victoria's civil servants already resent him enough." Beside them, Vina shared a similar view to Kal'tsit, stating calmly:

"Besides, I think most people in Victoria's civilian bureaucracy will just laugh it off."

"Huh? Why?" Amiya seemed a bit confused. Seeing how serious Kal'tsit and Vina looked, and how they mentioned it might bring upheaval to the land, she thought the matter was quite serious.

"—Because Victoria's civil servants have other ways to increase their salaries."

As Victoria's Crown Prince, Vina had the most say in this matter. She understood very well just how corrupt the internal workings of Victoria's civilian bureaucracy were.

They were practically a money-making machine for the other dukes. In light of this, Vina already had a blueprint for her future plans to rebuild Victoria; she was determined to thoroughly reform Victoria's current civilian bureaucracy and prevent these vermin from continuing to poison Victoria.

"Speaking of which... in the TV series, people like Humphrey were at least from Victoria's peak era. Although they all had their own agendas, they at least had competence."

"Compared to the decadent officials of today's Victoria, even Humphrey seems capable of being entrusted with important tasks... Isn't that also a form of satire?"