After reading the document, the newly elected congressman instantly realized that he might have made a mistake that could ruin his political career, and he quickly stood up and apologized.
The meeting then continued:
"How is the progress of the research on cracking the 'Reincarnation Curse' used by the leader of Death Cult?" Amelia asked.
One of the reasons why this cult is so difficult to eradicate is that its leader uses a special magic that allows them to be reincarnated after death: to be precise, the spell randomly selects a person to inherit all the memories, thoughts, and beliefs of the previous cult leader.
Subsequently, the new leader will secretly spread Death Cult's ideas among the people. In this way, every time Empire eliminates a leader, another will immediately replace it, making it almost impossible to completely eliminate Death Cult.
"As of now, we only have a small amount of information. First, the selected person is always a non-magical person. Second, after being selected, the non-magical person will gradually awaken his magical abilities. However, after we captured the previous leaders, we have not detected any traces of magic in their bodies."
"Could it be that they used another power system that we don't know about?"
"It's highly likely. But that doesn't change the fact that there's nothing we can do about the situation - especially since we know so little about the forces they're wielding."
"I think the best solution is to strengthen the establishment of the department responsible for handling Death Cult affairs. Ask the military to intervene and allocate some soldiers for support." A Ten Rings congressman suggested.
"This is a feasible method. Let's discuss the specific personnel allocation amount." Amelia seconded. After discussions and consultations on troop deployment matters, the next topic was raised.
Unexpectedly, the Council member responsible for this issue was actually Percy·Weasley.
Wearing a luxurious magic robe, he stood up and stated. "In the Empire, the number of people called 'Nites' in the East has increased. According to the latest statistics, 5% of the total population of the Empire neither works, studies, or goes to school, nor has they made any contribution to society.
"All they did was play games on 'Skynet'."
"5%? Based on the total population of the Empire 50 billion, this is 2.5 billion people. This number is too high." One congressman expressed shock.
"We have provided free education, medical care, and even generous social benefits to relieve people's worries and encourage them to contribute to the empire, but this still seems far from enough."
"We have even restricted the widespread use of puppets and robots, and deliberately reserved a large number of jobs for this group of people, but now it seems that the results are very little."
"Do we understand the reasons behind their behavior?" asked a Ten Rings MP. "It can't be just addiction. One dose of 'Focus Potion' is enough to get rid of this kind of addiction. Moreover, they can easily access many psychological counselors on Skynet."
"Based on the investigation we conducted and the analysis of these people, we came to the conclusion that they resented that they were not born wizards, but in the game, they can experience the feeling of having magical abilities." Percy replied.
"So, Source still lies in the class difference between magic and non-magic people. Although magic technology allows ordinary people to use magic, there is still a huge difference compared with real wizards."
"Coupled with the fact that most of the Empire's wealth and influence are in the hands of wizards as a minority group, this has indeed evolved into a social problem." A Ten Rings councilor analyzed.
"What we need to solve now is the problem of these people who are not engaged in production, not the class conflicts that plague Empire." Another Ten Rings member responded.
"We can directly ban them from logging into Skynet and forcibly prevent them from indulging in games all day long."
"This is a terrible idea. I can foresee that if this is the case, the suicide rate in this population will increase dramatically."
"That being the case, we limit their login hours and mandate by decree that they must work a certain number of hours per week."
"It might work, but I don't like the solution."
"With all due respect, I may have a solution to this problem." Percy suddenly spoke. Everyone's eyes immediately focused on him, waiting for the next step.
"As we all know, many people are dissatisfied with the decree that forces the donation of emotions to create 'Lesser Philosopher's Stone'. Empire has also been criticized for this. But now, we can use the current situation to become passive and proactive.
"We can specifically use Skynet to collect Emotional Energy from this group of people who are not engaged in production, without disturbing ordinary people."
"Excellent idea! These unproductive people will finally be able to show their actual value, and Empire will receive less criticism."
"It is best to announce to the public that this is Arcane Archon's will, so as to enhance his prestige and control over Empire." A Ten Rings councilman added.
Many people were secretly upset after hearing this, why they had not thought of this first to please the consul.
Amelia nodded. "This is indeed a good idea." She then looked at Percy, "Do you have any other ideas about this issue?"
"Yes, Elder Council. We can secretly provide these people with Soul Link access rights to collect emotions more efficiently. But to ensure their safety, more Soul-Soothing Potion must be provided to them."
"Since this is your proposal, you are solely responsible for the implementation process."
Percy was immediately excited after hearing this, and many people nodded in recognition of this young man's political talent. Of course, there are a few people who despise Percy, thinking that he only reached this position because of Weasley family's current power.
After Percy reported to Council, they spent several hours discussing various other issues of the Empire. After everything was over, Amelia sat alone in the office, thinking about the meeting that had just ended.
Most of the problems Empire is currently facing are ultimately due to the fact that they are too young and many people have not forgotten the past. Although the concept of country has been abolished, the older generation still identifies with the old national identity and passes these concepts on to the new generation.
"In other words, the number of people who identify themselves as Empire citizens has not reached the level it should be; there is insufficient cohesion.
"Coupled with the rapid advancement of magic and technology, the problem has worsened."
Amilie paused, tapping her fingers on the table.
"There are two solutions I can think of at the moment: first, wait. As time goes by, these old concepts will gradually be forgotten, and people will slowly recognize the autonomy and subjectivity of the Empire.
"Second, launching an interstellar war forces us to unite to deal with external threats - just like Dementor Invasion back then."
After formulating a brief plan, Amelia sent relevant information about today's meeting to Edward along with her thoughts on solving the current problem.
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