Zhou Bi said, "Secretary-General Gu, we were only raising questions. There's no need for those barbed remarks."
"Raising questions?" Gu Weiyang's smile grew even more disdainful. "If you're raising questions, surely you want something. What is it? For the Warren Merchants' Association to revise the Lion Cards again? Retracting information that's already public would only attract more attention. So the four of you are just here to put me in my place."
Zhou Bi and the other three looked at Gu Weiyang, dissatisfaction in all their eyes.
Gu Weiyang continued, "Although I'm nominally the highest authority over the Safe Zone's affairs, in reality, the four of you have done plenty of deciding what's right and wrong yourselves. All these years, with certain people's tacit approval, you've acted in my name. And nine times out of ten, what you do is utterly rotten, yet I'm always the one who takes the blame."
"The seven great legions, the Three Major Merchants' Associations, schools, churches, mining operations-is there anywhere your people haven't meddled? All you ever think about is sitting behind the scenes, enjoying the satisfaction that power brings. You've never once considered stepping forward to take responsibility for anything. You dump it all on me!" Gu Weiyang swept another cool glance over the four of them. "Now, all I've done is bring you four out into the open. No one has even done anything to you yet, and you're already unhappy?"
Gu Weiyang went on, "If the World-Destroying Church openly challenges the United Government, we have to hit back. That's why their names appeared on the Lion Cards. But if the World-Destroying Church's members rank too high, the public will lose confidence in the United Government. That's why your positions on the Lion Cards were raised."
"But this doesn't benefit Zone 1's