"Stop me from Distributing Grain?" Qin Siyang asked in confusion. "I can understand stopping me from recruiting soldiers. After all, that threatens the balance of power in the Safe Zone. But why stop me from Distributing Grain? Do they get a kick out of seeing more people starve to death?"
"I don't know. Mister Qin, I'm just an ordinary Sequence Ability User, the governor of a remote state. I really don't understand the inner workings of all this. But—"
Jonathan shifted gears. "The United Government may not care all that much about the Legion threatening the balance of power in the Safe Zone. The regions you threaten are all places where the United Government has little control. No one can threaten its core regions, Zone 1 and District 2."
Qin Siyang was still puzzled. "But Secretary-General Gu already agreed to it."
Jonathan added, "Mister Qin, Secretary-General Gu is not the United Government, and the United Government is not Secretary-General Gu."
Qin Siyang froze, and Jonathan continued, "I believe it's Secretary-General Gu who worries about the Legion growing too powerful, not the United Government. And it's the United Government that will stop you from Distributing Grain, not Secretary-General Gu."
"You mean... Secretary-General Gu can't fully represent the United Government's intentions?"
"Secretary-General Gu is one of those rare people who hold high office without playing power games or indulging in wealth and luxury. People like that are a minority, no matter the time or place. A minority cannot represent a group's core interests."
"The United Government is like a volcano on the verge of erupting. Its searing magma is already straining to burst out, to run wild and wreak havoc on everything around it."
"And Secretary-General Gu is the boulder plugging the crater. His presence is the only reason the volcano hasn't