Chapter 258 Storming The Council 4
"The Supreme Council that Madam Portia revealed was established only 50 years ago, in response to the increasing number of combatants qualified to enter the First Gate. Some semblance of leadership was needed, and rather than putting it in the hands of one, we decided to opt for a council system similar to this very one."
"It was also necessary to filter the membership to those who actually had significant achievements as well as the power to be a bastion in times of need. Some of you here probably feel indignant about being left out of the loop of such a power circle, but what's the point of adding you if you're not even qualified to enter?"
Ophelia's blunt words made the faces of those who were listening extremely ugly. Meanwhile, Portia surprisingly nodded her head in agreement because she felt the same way. Without entering the First Gate and seeing the true scope of the power of other universes as well as their tactics, you could never truly understand.
How could one allow a person who not only did not understand but had no clue make executive and final decisions affecting many?
"We did invite powerhouses like Madam Portia to the council, but she rejected because - in her words - she was a frontliner, not an armchair general." Ophelia glanced at the older generation members who were there before her and felt sorry for them.
All she was saying now were things she had read up from the council's history and archives, but they had been there when Portia metaphorically spat in their faces without mercy. That must not have felt good.
Portia herself puffed out her chest with pride, looking satisfied by her own words and actions. Mini Portia- *cough* Beatrice also puffed out her chest in pride of her unyielding and domineering mom.
Seeing the two who could be taken as near-identical sisters like this, one couldn't help but feel amused. Ophelia paused for a bit before clearing her throat and continuing slowly.
"The council is actually made up of 12 individuals."
"The Chairwoman, Lara Sanguis, Headmistress of the Eternal Academy."
"The 1st Vice Chairwoman, Ao Zilong, Ancestress of the Ao Clan."
"The 2nd Vice Chairwoman, Ophelia Seers, Head of the Seers Family."
"The Battle Master Julon Terrier, member of the Terrier Family."
"The Intelligence Chief Juliano Borgia, member of the Borgia family."
"The Military Advisor Eustace Holt, 1st Admiral of the Prime Human Fleet."
"The Base Specialist Olov Krutz, Chairman of the True Russian Blood group."
"The 1st Organizer Cathly Mereew, Vice-Leader of the Galactic Feline group."
"The 2nd Organizer Blanchette Boo, the Owner of the Spirit Group."
"The 3rd Organizer Bastian Leo, Ex-headmaster of the Eternal Academy."
"The Quantum Planner Kurtaghagt Venrieere, CEO and Majority shareholder of the Etraverse Corporation."
"The Adjudicator Xalindra Nobleese, Head of the Supreme Lords faction."
Before Ophelia could continue, there was a great uproar in the council chamber. Much to what she expected, the fellows here were not that furious about being left out, but hearing that there were mixed breeds and even two aliens on the Supreme Council, their fury and killing intent were palpable.
Ophelia was depressed because this was why Juliano and the rest did not want Portia to reveal the existence of the Supreme Council. News about the First Gate and the difficulties there they did not honestly care about.
They mostly kept that to themselves to prevent the commoners of the universe from panicking, but if they knew, so be it. What they feared was the rage of their fellow pure humans for allowing non-pure humans into a council that decided the fate of the entire universe.
Didn't that mean that those fellows had more authority than them from a different perspective? So while they sat here every other day making laws and deciding the fate of the internal running of the universe, there were non-humans also deciding their general/collective fate out there?
Many clutched their chests as they fell extremely ill, as if they would vomit out their organs and blood in anger.
As for Ophelia, she understood and sympathized with them. Whether it was any of them, the seven pure humans, they did not want any such people among them, especially since those fellows liked to cause troubles in meetings.
However, the biggest problem was that they had no choice. These people had real power and were part of their registered candidates for the First Gate. It was either rope them in and let them have some semblance of authority to tie them down with responsibility or let them free roam and do as they pleased without caring about anyone's opinion.
The council made the right choice at the time, but it would be hard to explain this openly. So right now, they could only have ugly expressions as they were questioned and berated loudly by their peers on this council.
The worst part was that they couldn't afford to ignore their anger. They were not invincible like Portia, who could make other universes fear her name and called her nightmare 20 years ago, much less now.
These people represented factions and cogs of universal society that formed the pillar of the power structure, so even if one or two could be offended, it would be fine, but definitely not all of them at once.
"Enough!" Portia spoke forcefully, causing the entire place to become silent.
She then turned to Ophelia with a hint of impatience. "The history lesson is over, now explain why you decided to harm my son-in-law."
Ophelia nodded. "Actually, the idea was first proposed by Xalindra, and she received great support from the other non-pure human council members. The idea was to create an information blackout to force Dante into becoming one of our registered fighters since we strongly suspected he was not of this universe."
All eyes fell on Dante for a bit, who did not break his calm smile. He made no indication as to whether this was true or not, but now, with his current backing and being a registered fighter of this universe, that actually did not matter anymore.
"Initially, Dante should have been teleported to one of our bases and then slowly tricked into signing up for our universes through the Black Spire, but we found, to our shock, that he was sent somewhere else altogether," Ophelia explained with an ugly expression.
The other six were also aggrieved. This wasn't worth it at all; all they wanted to do was a little deception to get Dante on their side. If he was a native of this universe, then registering was a matter of course. If he was a spy, his true colors would be revealed.
How could they possibly know what would have happened?
"Instead, he was sent to the Wasteland of Death, the most difficult region of the Universe Battlefield. When we received a report that he had arrived there, we actually estimated that he only had a less than 0.01% chance of survival."
Ophelia glanced at Dante with a complicated expression. "It is... good... to see that he is back safely."
Dante was amused. It was good because with him back, they now had a powerful fighter on their side, but it was bad because when he came back, their deception was made public and led to this current situation.
They must be having some seriously bittersweet feelings about this.
"Interesting. So it's all not your fault, just reasonable actions you took given the circumstances to protect our universe that malfunctioned through means not of your own doing?" Portia asked them as she folded her arms with a smirk.
Seeing her smile, Ophelia was greatly chilled and knew that if she dared to admit that, the seven of them would die today, consequences be damned. She immediately shook her head and bowed.
"As the 2nd Vice Chairman and the current spokesperson of the council at this instant, I propose three things in order to show the council's sincere apology and regret toward its harsh treatment of Dante." Ophelia hurriedly added, glancing at the others who nodded subtly.
They had also felt the chill and knew that they must be united at this moment to preserve their lives, and any cost was fine as long as they could weather this storm.
"Firstly, we would like to offer Dante a seat on the Prime Human Council as well as the Supreme Council, with a title of his choice and obligations as well as some powers designated by himself."
"Secondly, we would like to offer Dante and his clan full autonomy from the jurisdiction of all powers at and below this council."
"Thirdly, we would like to offer him a position within the universe to solidify his affiliation with us, in which he could partake in our culture and expand further."
Portia did not say anything, surprisingly turning to Dante and nodding to him. After all, she was just the 'macho man' here to look tough and beat up those who dared to disagree with him, but it was up to him to decide how he wanted to resolve things.
Dante smiled thankfully at his mother-in-law for giving him this respect and stepped forth confidently. He glanced through the crowd slowly, keeping everyone's faces in his memory and comparing them with his database of important persons in his AI Chip.
He assessed those who he could afford to offend right now and those he could not, as well as those who could help bring his overall plan to life and those who could stop him dead in the water.
"I thank Councilwoman Ophelia for the offer. For the first term, I accept. I will be placed on this Prime Human Council in the capacity as the seat of the Quantum Supremacy Group, a faction I plan to establish soon."
"As for the Supreme Council, I shall be simply titled the Quantum Lord, and you can count on me to make sure that things get done. After all, we're all tied to the same boat, so I can only work hard."
Dante smiled slightly. "As for the autonomy, I refuse. There is no one in the universe above the law, and I don't want such a burden. When my fists are strong enough, the law will naturally bend to me."
"Rather, I would change the second term to become a granted military position that would allow me to build my own private force of troops and armada openly in the universe. This is for the purpose of the First Gate, of course, so don't worry."
"As for the third offer, I naturally accept. As for the affiliated position, it shall be granted to my budding faction called the Quantum Supremacy Group. It is a mercantile establishment with a sole proprietor and employee in the form of myself, taking advantage of the special ability of my new superpower."
Dante's eyes narrowed. "That's right, thanks to my luck and the kindness of the Supreme Council, upon entering the First Gate I managed to score myself some meager Spire Points and bought a random superpower."
"This new superpower allows me to sacrifice a part of my lifespan and energy to duplicate most items in the universe and even transport items to and from quantum worlds. This will be the main aspect of the business, and you can consider my revelation of this its initial advertisement."
Dante was pleased by the bloodshot eyes and the endless greed in the eyes of onlookers, as they would likely do anything to lick his boots in order to get what they wanted.
But Dante was not done.
"In order for my business to work, I need the ability to host and create Quantum Worlds, so I request the Supreme Council very kindly to consider convincing the Quantum Planner Kurtaghagt Venrieere to release the technology to me under contract that I will not share it with any other soul."
Immediately, the faces of the seven changed as they were shocked by Dante's boldness and his limitless greed as well as ambition.
This chapt𝒆r is updated by free(w)ebnovel(.)com