"By the way... did you hear about the explosion near the Liberty Auditorium yesterday?"

Zhou Jiren swirled his wine glass and asked with a soft chuckle.

"Mm..."

Zhao Xilai responded in a lazy tone.

"That child, Gu Shen, hasn't had much luck lately... he went to the auditorium for a concert and ran into a bomb planted by Xiao," Mr. Shu said regretfully. "Can you believe the coincidence?"

"That's how things always are. Life is stranger than fiction."

"I also enjoy concerts at the Liberty Auditorium." Zhao Xilai knew that Mr. Shu was circling around the topic, trying to gauge his attitude towards the meeting between Lu Nanzhi and Ye Ningqiu, so he responded directly, "It's a good place, classic, elegant, and loud."

He emphasized the last three words.

"Although I don't know why you'd like a place like that..." Zhou Jiren understood his meaning and laughed. "But I'll still say, if you like it, then that's good."

The countdown on the light screen ended.

The council's flag and a square podium appeared in the center of the screen.

The nomination ceremony for alternate councilors usually required the presence of many key figures, but this time, both councilors from Dadu chose to recuse themselves to avoid suspicion.

Everyone knew the reason for this.

Zhao and Chen had completely different opinions regarding the Awakening Act, and these two indeed found it inconvenient to meet today.

Since it was inappropriate for either to attend, they simply decided not to come at all.

"I heard Nanwan nominated three alternate councilors," Zhou Jiren said. "There should be a fierce battle ahead, right? I'm breaking out in a cold sweat for that little girl Nanzhi."

Despite saying this, his demeanor showed no signs of nervousness.

He drank his wine as he should.

He ate his desserts as he should.

He was purely... an observer.

And soon, something unexpected happened.

The first alternate councilor candidate nominated by Nanwan stepped onto the podium. He held his tie with one hand, leaned forward, looked around, gently tested the microphone to make sure it worked, and then announced a piece of news.

"I... withdraw from the election."

Outside the light screen.

Zhou Jiren narrowed his eyes, slowly chewing on a piece of strawberry burst cake.

Truly... a historic scene.

Desertion at the last minute.

Nominating an alternate councilor was not a trivial matter... Nanwan nominated three at once. All three were outstanding in terms of background and experience. Although they couldn't compete with the Madame in a horizontal comparison, it was clear from their stance that they were going to fight the Huazhi Group to the death at the final bottleneck of the Awakening Act.

The nomination of three alternate councilors was intended to fiercely block Lu Nanzhi, preventing her from smoothly securing a councilor's seat.

But now, a "deserter" had appeared.

The speech in front of the light screen caused countless controversies, and the noisy voices of the guests outside the screen could even be heard.

Zhao Xilai sat in his wheelchair, quietly watching this scene, his expression unchanged.

The second alternate councilor from Nanwan followed the former's steps and slowly came to the podium... He made the exact same movements and said the exact same words.

"I also... withdraw from the election."

The second bombshell.

Then came the third.

"I'm sorry... I also withdraw from the election."

The three councilors from Nanwan successively announced their withdrawal from the election. Without further words, they left the venue, leaving behind only a clamor. No one had ever seen such a scene.

Nanwan had given up the nomination election for alternate councilors...

Perhaps everyone thought there was little hope.

But in any case, it was something that should have been fought for.

...

...

A huge burst of laughter erupted from the top floor of Huazhi.

Even Zhao Xilai, sitting in his wheelchair, couldn't help but laugh.

For the high-level executives invited to the celebration banquet, they had imagined how this election would end.

But no one had expected it.

To be so fast.

Nanwan's light-speed withdrawal seemed somewhat comical.

As for Zhao Xilai, he felt that Zhou Jiren had arrived at just the right time. He admired the bewildered expression on the face of the Eastern Continent Chief Adjudicator at this moment... Those who wield great power often enjoyed this feeling—

Because he had known what would happen today all along.

Everyone thought this election was funny.

And Zhao Xilai thought everyone was funny.

The biggest joke was Zhou Jiren.

Mr. Shu noticed that there was still one person who wasn't laughing, and that was Cui Zhongcheng. This emotionless man seemed to have lost the ability to laugh... standing quietly like a wooden stake, without joy, anger, sadness, or life.

The clamorous sound in the light screen slowly subsided.

Finally, the Madame, dressed in a purple dress, came to the podium.

The election had just begun—

The election had already ended.

The three candidates from Nanwan had all chosen "self-destruction." They faded away in disappointment, while the true protagonist made a grand entrance.

A barrage of flashing lights rushed towards her. The Madame stood in front of the podium, with the flag of Dadu behind her. Her dress and the flag swayed together in the wind.

She stood silently for a long time, as if she was thinking about something, or making a decision about something.

One minute later.

Lu Nanzhi slowly opened her mouth.

Her voice was firm and powerful, unaffected by the previous three withdrawing candidates... Just as the outside world praised, the Madame had iron-blooded methods and a stronger aura than men.

The moment she opened her mouth, the entire venue fell silent.

Everyone quietly listened to Lu Nanzhi's election speech, even though it was no longer needed.

"Today's podium... I don't think anyone is more qualified than me to stand here."

"Ten years ago, this was my father's podium."

"He once shed sweat, tears, and the last of his... blood here."

"Dadu raised me. This is my hometown, my mother... I have thought countless times, if I could dedicate a strength to this land, what would I do?"

The flashing lights shone on this woman's face.

Lu Nanzhi's eyes were more blazing than the lights.

Zhao Xilai, sitting in his wheelchair, looked at this scene with satisfaction.

Next was a warm election speech.

Everyone knew that after the speech ended, the main event would begin.

After taking a deep breath.

The Madame looked directly at the camera. She spoke calmly and restrainedly, "We all know that Dadu needs reform... and the imminent reform is the Awakening Act. Deepsea has given an equation for calculating human destiny. We have argued about this for hundreds of days and nights, and my attitude is actually very simple."

"Human destiny must be held in human hands."

Lu Nanzhi raised her head.

When she said this sentence, there was another exclamation from the audience.

The Madame said firmly, "Reform takes time, order requires stability... and the power to drive the historical process cannot be handed over to machines."

"Regarding the Awakening Act implementation proposal given by Deepsea..."

"I oppose it."