"After the notice is given, immediately break camp and proceed to my territory. All Bastion Lord must come to see me in person."
"My men have been holding the line for a long time, and I need you to relieve them after nightfall."
"Did you understand?"
"I understand!"
The skeletal warriors immediately straightened their backs and headed high, then, at Colin's shout of "Get lost!", they scurried away in a panic.
After seeing off the dozens of guards who had gone to deliver the orders, Colin turned his attention back to the meeting hall:
"Everyone, please feel free to ask any further questions. You are all key members and elites of the Alliance; we can solve any problems together."
Everyone remained silent until one of the warlords suddenly spoke up:
"I want to know... if your promise is true, how do you plan to bring us back to the Alliance?"
Yes, how do I return to the Skeleton Alliance?
Within the Skeleton Alliance, the ability to transport goods across the sea is controlled by [ Whale Tail ], while the power of teleportation is the authority of [ Divine Wings ].
Both councilors are now completely gone...
Oh wait, [ Divine Wings ] is indeed gone without a trace, but [ Whale Tail ] is still on the table watching over everyone.
The warlord who raised the question glanced at the table without making a sound, only to find that the head of the [ Whale Tail ] had somehow turned towards Colin.
Goodness, it's a fully automatic fish head.
Colin hadn't noticed this minor detail. When he heard the warlord's question, he thought carefully for a moment before giving his response.
After all, all the possible questions everyone might have have already been written down on that piece of paper by [ the Ginseng Rooster ]:
"I will personally negotiate with the Theocracy. As you have seen, the Theocracy's army was teleported here. The fact that such a large army can be teleported here means that there must be experts among them who are skilled in teleportation."
"We have no direct conflict with the Theocracy. As long as we concede some benefits, they should be willing."
The warlord seemed somewhat worried; even the executioner's sword couldn't intimidate him.
"What if they don't want to?"
Colin's sternum rose and fell for a moment:
"Then I'll go and discuss borrowing a boat with the Graycast Corridor."
The warlord remained relentless:
"We have a conflict with the Graycast Corridor."
There used to be conflicts.
Colin corrected:
"And [ Giant Arms ] Councilor [name] has also passed away."
At this point, he seemed to lose some patience and directly interrupted the governor's questioning:
"I promise you all—even if I have to leave, I will lead you all back!"
The warlord raised his hand to indicate that he was fine.
Colin looked around at everyone again:
"If there are no further questions, then I will begin with..."
Only then did he suddenly realize a problem—
The previous developments were somewhat too rapid and sequential; he hadn't even had a chance to officially assume the position of acting legislator...
[ Ginseng Rooster ] had clearly noticed the problem as well. He immediately stepped forward to Colin's side and, standing at a lower position, loudly addressed the crowd:
"Gentlemen, I believe that Warlord Colin has already made his position clear regarding the future development strategy of the Alliance army."
"If no one has any further questions, may we now invite the next warlord to explain his strategy?"
What's the point of explaining this?! The knife is still in their hand!
At this moment, this idea popped into the minds of more than a dozen warlords.
"Oh, that's all?"
[ Ginseng Rooster ] feigned surprise:
"So--"
He glanced back at Colin and received an affirmative nod.
"Please begin the vote."
"We agree that Lord Colin will serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Demon Realm Alliance and concurrently as the acting councilor and warlord. Please raise your right hand so I can count the votes. Thank you."
The warlords silently raised their hands and began to count them, pretending to Ginseng Rooster.
Below the table, [ Ever-Changing Master Ye ], who had just finished turning the fish head, whispered to [ Gu Gugu ]:
"Fun fact: 'Distinguished guests' is actually a grammatically incorrect sentence. 'Distinguished guests' is a respectful term for everyone present, and 'guests' also means 'each and every one of you,' so it's a semantic redundancy."
[ Gu Gugu ] nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite:
I'm shocked.
Outside the round table, [ the Ginseng Rooster ] had already leisurely counted to "fourteen."
There were seventeen warlords in total. Balovi was dead, Grant was dead, and Colin was the candidate himself. Therefore, fourteen votes were the maximum number of votes that could be obtained.
After dragging out the count of fourteen, [ the Ginseng Rooster ] revealed an exaggerated expression of surprise:
"The vote count is complete. If no one raises any objections, then the result of this election is --"
"General Colin has been unanimously elected as acting member of parliament!"
"Let's congratulate Lord Colin!"
"Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!"
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] led the applause, then turned to Colin and asked the question that had already been written on the paper:
"Lord Colin, now that you're a member of parliament, would you like to give yourself a special nickname so that we can address you with respect?"
Colin naturally remembered the question on the paper and answered smoothly:
"No need. I'm just a mere acting councilor, not even High Tier. I can only rely on the legacy of Lord [ Divine Wings ] to keep things going. You can just call me Colin."
"Upon returning to the Skeleton Alliance, I will hand this weapon back to the Council and follow the instructions of the true council members."
I hope everyone understands me.
This flawless answer further enhanced Colin's image in everyone's eyes.
The warlords weren't fools; they knew that Colin, as the convener of the meeting, must have been prepared, and that this conversation was probably part of a show.
But so what?
What's wrong with putting on a show?
At least Colin was willing to put on a show.
With Grant's "masterpiece" precedent set, people's expectations for the acting senator were actually quite low.
Having an actor is a good thing; it's better than someone who's always flipping tables and wielding weapons.
Then, starting with someone, a military governor suddenly stood up, bowed, and said in a steady, drawn-out tone:
"Yes, Congressman."
"Yes, Congressman."
The other military governors were not to be outdone.
After his performance and statement, Colin, leaning on his broadsword, addressed the crowd:
"Everyone, please disperse for today. I will resolve the issue as quickly as possible. If there are any matters that need to be discussed, I will send someone to inform you."
A youthful version of the "Feast at Hongmen" that unfolded from a strange angle has finally come to an end.
As the warlords left with their personal guards, only Colin and the twenty-odd men he had brought remained in the meeting hall.
The birdwatching duo crawled out from under the table. They hadn't seen anything clearly from the beginning, but because of their prime location, they could hear everything perfectly, almost like listening to a radio drama – quite a unique experience.