The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

"General, you still don't understand—regardless of whether the Grand Knight Commander publicly supports him or not, he has already won."

"Even if you go to him, and say you 'convince' him to publicly oppose the bill—have you considered that this might just be a reason for the military to wage war against the Business Federation?"

Qiao Yelan's words made Cyril freeze in his chair.

"If the Grand Knight Commander supports this bill, then it marks the beginning of the first collaboration between the Commercial Federation and the military. And once something happens once, it will happen again and again... Do you think it's easier for a knight to be corrupted into a merchant, or for a merchant to become a knight?"

"If the Grand Knight Commander objects, he can simply publicly denounce the Commerce Federation and launch this civil war with a 'Declaration of War'—the Commerce Federation has no chance of winning. Then he can use the prestige brought by this victory to secure his position!"

Kasena remained expressionless. She didn't know what expression she could show, since Qiao Yelan hadn't said a single lie. He simply listed the facts and then, by drawing Cyril's mind in, led her step by step into an abyss.

This is an open strategy—even when Qiao Yelan is weaving a plan for others that they don't even know about, he can still habitually devise a plan that leads only to victory.

If that Grand Knight Commander were the same kind of person as Qiao Yelan, he would surely have done the same, and would have had the mind and perseverance to devise and complete such a plan—but the question is, is he?

Whether he is or not is not important; what is important is that Qiao Yelan will make him appear to be.

If the Grand Knight Commander had never been wary of Cyril, and instead of seeing him as a competitor, but rather grooming him as a successor, would Cyril have been misled by Qiao Yelan's words and been guided by them?

Human nature can never withstand doubt.

This is why Qiao Yelan would never be the first to break a contract.

Fulfilling contracts is the cornerstone of integrity, obtaining benefits is the beginning of friendship, and humble respect is the bridge to closeness.

The ultimate goal is to gain the other party's trust.

The level of trust that those who sign contracts with Qiao Yelan have is both a threshold and a guillotine—Qiao Yelan can easily guillotine anyone who falls outside this threshold.

Unfortunately, for Cyril, the one standing outside the threshold this time was the Grand Knight Commander who commanded the entire military force of Kazimir.

The general could no longer utter a word; he could only close his eyes, but gripped the armrests of the chair tightly.

The scene fell completely silent; the only sound was the breathing of the four people.

The general's face was extremely gloomy, his worry and inner turmoil far outweighing his anger.

Meanwhile, Ioleta's face, besides anger, also carried a hint of excitement and anticipation.

As Cyril's deputy, she was involved in political matters far more frequently and for far longer than her superior, so she understood what Qiao Yelan meant at this point.

Only the Grand Knight Commander has the power to stop the Commercial Federation's actions, the authority to thoroughly investigate corruption and collusion within the military, and the power to halt this imminent civil war in Qazimir.

But this is definitely not something the current Grand Knight Commander would do.

Qiao Yelan took in this expression.

He picked up the document without making a sound and put it back in the brown paper bag.

“Lord Cyril, we once made a pact across the void, and the Tower of Babel would never force you to do anything against your will. I have come to you with this plan this time out of necessity. I do not want to coerce you, but this is not something that you can stop even if you join forces with me now.”

He was preparing to leave, and there was no need to continue pressuring Cyril to make a statement at this point.

Anyway, someone else will force him.

If that's the case, why should I play the "bad guy"?

"Your Excellency Qiao Yelan—"

Cyril's voice was slightly dry and hoarse, but his unwavering determination remained undiminished.

"If I want to prevent this bill from passing, and also prevent the conflict between the military and the business association from escalating further—what should I do?"

Beneath the black mask, a slight smile subtly curved the corners of Qiao Yelan's lips.

"Only by placing people of high moral character in the right positions can we effectively mitigate the crisis caused by self-interest."

As he said this, he turned his face toward his female assistant.

Ioleta Russell's expression also became as resolute as Cyril's.

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"All forty-six knight families who participated in that battle have expressed their support for you, and most of the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights have also stood by your side—in fact, we have been waiting for your will for far too long."

Ioleta held a thick stack of communication records in her hand, her face filled with immense excitement and pride.

This is the knight I follow—that incompetent and worthless Grand Knight Commander, he should have been removed from office long ago!

Cyril's expression didn't show much joy; he already knew this outcome—but when he saw it, he couldn't help but give a wry smile.

Put yourself in their shoes: if your orders to the army were less effective than those of your subordinates, anyone with self-respect and ambition would feel only shame and anger.

Am I really capable of doing that job?

He sighed.

"Of course! Lord Linguang, if even you are not qualified to serve as Grand Knight Commander, then there will never be another Kazimierz who is qualified!"

The woman's face was solemn.

“I don’t know—but I do know that you would at least not willingly plunge your country into war and division for the sake of your own position.”

Qiao Yelan said calmly.

Cyril nodded silently.

At this moment, Ioleta turned her gaze to Qiao Yelan.

"Your Excellency Qiao Yelan, even though those of us who support Your Excellency Lin Guang have stood up, we still need plenty of time from initiating the impeachment to removing the Grand Knight Commander from office, and then to electing a trusted Grand Knight Commander. The Business Federation will not stand idly by."

"Rest assured, I will buy you enough time. Before Lord Cyril ascends to the position of Grand Knight Commander, Babel will keep the entire Commercial Federation's attention at bay."

But Ioleta was clearly not at ease.

"Please forgive my intrusion—but would I have the honor of hearing your plans?"

"no problem."

Qiao Yelan patted the briefcase hanging next to her wheelchair.

"I plan to strike first."

"Preemptive strike?"

“Yes, Babel Tower will compile the bill into a preliminary draft and then send it directly to the Business Federation’s voting meeting for everyone to vote on—before those who really want to push this plan forward.”

Cyril and Ioleta were both taken aback.

"This plan is top secret—so secret that I don't even know how it's being carried out. But what I do know is that if they're going to push this plan through, they'll definitely coordinate internally beforehand to ensure the bill passes. And as soon as they start coordinating, I'll get wind of it!"

"Therefore, the time these people want to implement this plan is definitely not now! If I present a similar plan now, it will definitely catch them off guard—because they won't have time to coordinate, and the result of not being able to coordinate is that the representatives of those groups who feel they won't get any benefits will cast their votes against it!"

Qiao Yelan said with "full of confidence".

"The scary thing about the business federation is that if they want to, they can instantly mobilize huge resources to support something. This bill is the same. If they can successfully coordinate in advance, they can pass the bill instantly and start to implement it in full. Then all those who oppose the bill will not have time to organize enough forces to stop it."

"By presenting this bill now, I mean I'll be caught in a public wrangling and tug-of-war among various parties. In the process, this matter will inevitably spread more widely, giving everyone with a sense of justice time to stand up and voice their opposition!"

Cyril's eyes lit up.

Qiao Yelan's meaning was very clear. Just like his appointment as Grand Knight Commander, if it hadn't been planned in advance and had been brought to the forefront directly, both his supporters and opponents would have been caught off guard and would have had to hastily mobilize their forces to react, which would have only led to a stalemate between the two sides.

Are you confident that no one will object when the bill is first introduced?

Ms. Ioleta asked the question that concerned her most.

Yes, of course there will be.

Kashina tightened her face, desperately trying to maintain her poker face.

Why did this person start building from the second floor?!

The most outrageous part is that he even managed to explain why Babel was the first to propose the bill!

"Of course there will be—as a businessman, one is always most sensitive to the potential profits."

Qiao Yelan laughed and gave Kashena the answer she already knew.

"It seems that this bill can help many people, after all, it can bring a considerable number of slave laborers, but there are always some places where these laborers are not competent—for example, the media industry."

"The Rose Press controls the media window in Casimir, and they need a lot of writers, which cannot be replaced by infected slave laborers. Therefore, they can hardly get any benefit from this bill. But if this bill is to be implemented, the issue of public opinion cannot be avoided."

He spread his hands, looking confident and assured.

"Don't worry, Mr. Bain, as the chairman of Rose Newspaper United Company, will definitely stick to this point and fight hard to get enough benefits for himself—this bill will absolutely not be passed until his appetite is satisfied."

"But with the Tower of Babel there, we will firmly block the negotiation, and his appetite will never be satisfied."

The snake standing behind the devil sighed softly to itself.

Bain did not pass the resolution because he was not satisfied—but because his appetite had been satisfied, even more than he had imagined.

How can someone who has already eaten their fill of meat possibly look down on these leftover scraps?

Even if this piece of meat originated from the festering sore of a giant, it would still be a feast for a greedy maggot.

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In the swaying carriage, Kashina watched the fortress slowly disappear, remained silent for a moment, then turned to stare at Qiao Yelan.

"What's wrong? Ask me if you have any questions. Didn't I say I would try my best to answer all your questions this year?"

Qiao Yelan was a little puzzled.

"...What I want to ask is, in your plan, which part is the groundwork and which part is the echo?"

Kashina was confused.