The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4163 is, The Supreme Sorcerer (Part 3)

Two hours before the meeting was to begin, while Strange was still happily collecting equipment throughout the universe, Nick walked into Schiller's office with a somber expression.

"What's wrong?" Schiller stopped typing and asked.

Nick sighed heavily, plopped down in his chair, sighed again, and remained silent.

"Speak quickly. I'm busy right now."

"What time is it? You're still busy with other things. The meeting starts in two hours. If you can't make a decision today, then you might as well hand over the speaker's seat to someone else."

"What's the rush?" Schiller continued looking at the computer screen, then said, "There are still two hours left."

“You make it sound so easy. Two hours? Where am I supposed to find a sucker willing to be the speaker? I’ve never been turned away more than in the past month!” Nick was clearly full of resentment.

Schiller finally stopped what he was doing, turned around, and said, "We've also approached the mutants, but they're not willing to take on the role either?"

"Of course I tried. Professor X was quite nice, but even after drinking a lot of English tea, I still couldn't convince him. I didn't even get to see Magneto. Sigh."

"Since nobody wants to be in this position, then let's not be in this position."

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Nick said, his beard bristling and eyes wide. “That’s the Speaker of the Interstellar Council! Even if it’s not an easy job, it has to be a human, not some alien. Besides, this might be the biggest boost to humanity’s interstellar status in a century, someone has to take it!”

“You said it yourself, being the Speaker isn’t easy,” Schiller shook his head and said. “It’s not just about balancing humans and aliens, but also aliens with aliens, and even humans with humans. Anyone who does this job will go crazy.”

“But they do have power,” Nick said. “While most major issues require a vote by the entire parliament, they can still make decisions on some minor matters.”

"for example?"

"Uh, for example, some security matters."

"Can Thanos be removed?"

"The Interstellar Security Committee, where Thanos is located, is under the Ministry of Security, and only the Minister of Security has the authority to appoint and dismiss officials."

"Then can we dismiss the Minister of Security?"

"There's no need to impeach him. Once the new speaker takes office and forms a new cabinet, the change will happen naturally."

"Can the new minister remove Thanos from office?"

"It seems unlikely. The Interstellar Security Council is a standing body, and the Chief Executive is a standing member of that body. To remove him, all standing members of the body would need to vote."

Schiller spread his hands and said, "Isn't that enough? He doesn't even have the power to appoint or dismiss employees, so what can you expect him to do? I advise you not to try to fool people into doing things by making empty promises."

"So you have other ways to get people to do it?"

“What do you mean by ‘bluffing’?” Schiller rolled his eyes dismissively. “If you told someone you were going to be the Speaker of the Interstellar Council, they definitely wouldn’t agree.”

"But now everyone knows that we're going to choose a sucker to be the speaker. Even if I try to package it as a different position, no one will believe it."

"No, no, no, it's just that people on Earth recently found out we're electing a Speaker for the Interstellar Council, but what about those who aren't here?"

"You mean..."

"Moreover, from the perspective of interstellar politics, the speaker of the interstellar council should be elected, but from the perspective of humanity, shouldn't we also be electing humanity's political leader?"

"Are you trying to twist the facts? While the Speaker of the Interstellar Council is indeed a political leader for humanity, after all, the highest-ranking person in interstellar politics, in terms of actual power, it's practically the same as having none. That's not all; there are also a lot of messy things to deal with. If not handled properly, it can easily lead to a lot of trouble. You could say that the less power you have, the greater your responsibility. Otherwise, why would no one want to be in that position?"

"Alright, as long as you promise me one thing, I guarantee I'll find you a qualified speaker, how about it?"

"Tell me what it is first."

"We've made such a huge commotion, severely damaging the three great empires and wreaking havoc on all those decent advanced civilizations. We didn't do this just for a nominal position, do you think?"

Back in the meeting room, what didn't Strange understand? He'd been fooled by Schiller again!
First, they pressured me to write a letter of opinion, then they inadvertently revealed some things about greed, followed by a philosophical analysis, then a change of concept, and finally another wave of pressure, and I was completely fooled!

Now it seems there were no competitors at all; no one wanted to be the leader, and he was the only one who foolishly volunteered and took on this hot potato.

Strange wanted to slap himself. Besides, during his conversation with Schiller, Schiller had already said that everyone succumbed to their own greed. The answer was written right there in the question—how could he get it wrong! How could he get it wrong!

This just proves what he said: if you choose to retire gracefully, you are not without options. But even if you do it a thousand or ten thousand times, the devil called greed will still make you pick the apple, press the button, and choose the option that you have no other choice.

Strange covered his forehead and sighed inwardly. Greed, oh greed.

As expected, the subsequent opinion reports made no mention of human leadership. The so-called candidates wrote down serious opinions, such as: how to manipulate interstellar public opinion? How to restore humanity's reputation? How to deepen cooperation with Asgard, and so on.

This further convinced Strange that this so-called human leader was someone no one wanted to take the blame for, and that he had volunteered to step in and put the blame on his own head.

When the meeting ended, everyone who passed by him looked at him with admiration, then patted him on the shoulder as if they wanted to say something, sighed, shook their heads, and walked past him.

This scene reminded Strange of a funeral. He even felt a sense of dread; what was this human leader going to do that made everyone else look like that?

You see, Schiller might try to persuade him, but he wouldn't lie to him. If he said he was the leader of humanity, then he truly meant it. And everyone present was ambitious; who wouldn't want to be the leader of humanity?
Unless, of course, with great honor comes great responsibility. Or rather, the greater the honor, the bigger the pitfall—a pit so big that no amount of honor can fill it. What is this all about?!

Less than half an hour after the meeting ended, an invitation from the Interstellar Council appeared on Strange's desk. Strange opened it, and the title read, "Dear Candidate."

What candidate? What am I running for?
Strange didn't know either, so he read on. It read: "A friendly reminder from the Permanent Secretary of the Interstellar Council Speaker's Office: The Speaker election will be held tomorrow. Candidates are requested to attend on time. Thank you!"

Strange slammed the invitation on the table, his expression one of utter disbelief. Who had registered him for the Speaker election?!

It's obvious that this was already decided beforehand. Otherwise, how could he have received the candidate invitation letter so quickly after only volunteering? Isn't it just that the humans decided first, and the voting is just a formality?
Strange slumped into his chair, utterly despondent. Did he really not know how difficult the Speaker's job was?

The Interstellar Council is essentially a one-man show by the three major empires, as it was originally established by them. Although it later absorbed members from some advanced civilizations, their influence was negligible. All the advanced civilizations combined might only be roughly equivalent to one of the major empires. On most important matters, the three empires are united and do not give others the opportunity to raise objections.

So over the years, although some other civilizations have produced their own chairmen, most of them have been puppets, doing whatever the three great empires say in secret.

Now, the three great empires are probably trying to stall for time by promising humanity this ineffective chairmanship, and humanity has no choice but to accept it.

Don't underestimate this position just because it doesn't have much real power. Even if you're just a figurehead, the civilization that has this chairman is still going to be very prestigious for a while. At least it shows that you are valued by the three great empires and that no one dares to touch you.

Humans may not be afraid of trouble, but they also crave a good reputation. Besides, they've just turned the universe upside down, so they need to create some positive events to salvage their reputation.

On the other hand, after this battle, the relationship between humanity and the three great empires is now irreparably damaged. When the other side makes a move, humanity has no choice but to respond. To run away would be to be cowardly before the battle even begins, and besides, it is impossible to run away forever.

Moreover, with humanity now in charge, even to avoid suspicion, the three great empires cannot openly attack humanity again, and humanity cannot attack them anymore—it's essentially a truce. The three great empires want to use this opportunity to recuperate and prepare for the future, and so does humanity. At humanity's current rate of development, a truce for a year or two is enough to embark on interstellar exploration.

Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, humanity must accept this position. However, in reality, once accepted, it will inevitably be fraught with open and covert attacks. The three great empires will never allow any human to sit comfortably in this position, will not allow them access to real power, and will do everything possible to prevent them from gaining any real prestige. It's entirely conceivable how many difficult, long-standing cases they will dump on this human speaker.

If you don't deal with it, they'll start spreading rumors, promoting human incompetence, and suppressing humanity's status; if you do deal with it, and you don't handle it well, you'll only make a fool of yourself. Just think about it, and it's obvious that the three great empires won't let you handle it well.

Upon learning that he was to become the Speaker of the Interstellar Council, Strange's head was spinning. He really wanted to slap his past self who had been fooled by Schiller, but when it came down to it, there was only one person he could turn to for help: Schiller.

Strange stormed into Schiller's office and slammed the invitation on his desk. Schiller turned and glanced at him, then said, "What is it, Mr. Speaker?"

"Look what you've done!" Strange gritted his teeth.

“You chose it yourself. I didn’t hold your hand or write your opinion for you,” Schiller shrugged. “Besides, don’t act like you’ve just met me. Why do you think those supplementary medical records I gave you were a waste of time?”

Strange's expression froze. He knew Schiller wasn't being kind by supplementing his medical records for over half a year. Sure enough, the gifts of fate always come with a price tag; there's no such thing as a free lunch!
But things had come to this point, and he couldn't remain speaker without dragging Schiller into it. So he gritted his teeth and said, "You're coming with me."

"Why?" Schiller turned his head back and said while typing on the keyboard, "I'm not stupid. The three great empires have been building this up for a thousand years. The Interstellar Council must be a den of dragons and tigers. I'm not going to go looking for trouble."

"So you're just going to let me go?!" Strange exclaimed in anguish.

"Anyway, you are the Sorcerer Supreme, so they won't dare to do anything to you. At most, they'll just get a few insults."

Strange suddenly realized something.

"You're right, I am the Sorcerer Supreme. If I don't go to the election tomorrow, what can anyone do to me?"

Schiller finally turned back and said, "That's true, so you're just going to stand me up like this?"

“No!” Strange’s resentment soared to the heavens. Rather than suffer himself, he wanted Schiller to reap what he sowed. So he said, “I already told you, you’re coming with me!”

Schiller, as if he had been waiting for him, suddenly smiled and said, "Yes, Venerable Master."

Yes, Sorcerer Supreme
Haha, who understands me?