Morse choked, never expecting that Dermot had led him around by the nose without him even noticing. The more he tried to explain himself, the worse he would look, but things had reached this point, and he had no choice but to keep arguing.
Standing to one side, Cheng Yu felt that perhaps Dermot had brought him along as a precaution, using him to keep the conversation going or to draw Morse into his rhythm.
In the exchange that followed, Dermot questioned Morse while subtly promoting his own governing philosophy. With Morse making a fool of himself first, Dermot had an almost absurdly easy time winning people over. Cheng Yu noticed that quite a few citizens had begun to change their attitudes toward Dermot.
Morse noticed this too and unhesitatingly abandoned his argument with Dermot, turning instead to continue trying to whitewash his earlier big talk.
Gradually, Morse broke free of Dermot's rhythm. What had been Morse's speech became a back-and-forth between Morse and Dermot.
This format took every citizen by surprise. After all, listening to one person spout off was nowhere near as entertaining as watching two people tear into each other, especially when both were Disciples of the Divine Emperor.
Indeed, as mentioned before, in this world, no rank or position was more prestigious than being a Disciple of the Divine Emperor.
Another thing that frustrated Dermot and the other councilors was that the election period coincided with His Majesty the God Emperor's trial, leaving the residents of Eternal Night City with little interest in the competition between these councilors.
After all, listening to them talk big was nowhere near as satisfying as finding a trial participant and seizing their identity. Once someone seized a participant's identity and passed His Majesty the God Emperor's trial, they too would