"Tomorrow at noon, a reply must be given, and the contract signed."
"Like this..."
Leon couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.
Seeing that Leon could still smile in this kind of situation, March 7th suddenly felt a sense of reassurance and wanted to ask him what idea he had.
However, seeing him narrow his eyes with an expression of not wanting to say anything more, she had no choice but to temporarily dismiss the thought.
Bronya: "I will immediately convene the Architects of Qlipoth Fort to discuss matters related to signing the contract."
"As for the civilian portion... I want to entrust the three of you to collect public opinion on my behalf."
"You have high prestige in the hearts of Belobog's people; they will definitely be willing to confide their true thoughts to the three of you."
Stelle knew that although the Jarilo-VI star domain had connected to interstellar signals and the network.
But in a world that previously didn't even have mobile phones, how could a fully covered network possibly be built in such a short time?
Things like online voting were out of the question; they could only use the most plain and simple methods.
But—
In less than a day, how could the three of them possibly manage it?
Every Belobog citizen has the right to voice their opinion; they couldn't just ask people they knew.
Maybe if Leon went all out and flew door to door, it might be possible?
Seeing what Stelle was thinking, Bronya sighed.
"It's too late now to mobilize and organize a public referendum..."
Furthermore, getting everyone to accept such a sudden change and the facts, stabilize their emotions, and recognize their true inner thoughts would also take no short amount of time.
Topaz didn't even bother to act; she directly laid her open scheme on the table.
Stelle wanted to say something, but Leon spoke first.
"Alright, leave this matter to us. The only thing you need to do right now is: rest well."
Bronya was stunned.
Rest well?
In the current situation, where was there any room for her to close her eyes and rest?
"As the saying goes, the body is the capital of revolution. If you don't rest well, what if you collapse tomorrow?"
"If you fall, what about Belobog? What about this world?"
"Go ahead and close your eyes without worry. Don't bother about collecting public opinion; trust us."
Meeting Leon's calm gaze, Bronya's lips moved slightly, but in the end she nodded silently.
Leon gave everyone a reassuring smile: "Let's go first, everyone. Don't disturb Bronya's rest."
...
The next day.
Bronya slept straight until past nine o'clock before waking up.
She hurriedly bathed and changed clothes, then rushed straight to the Qlipoth Fort office.
A group of Architects and ministers were all waiting for her.
The scene was very chaotic, with everyone debating whether to sign the contract.
As her gaze swept over the crowd, Bronya's heart suddenly felt a bit more at ease.
The three honored guests from the Express crew were also there; in addition, there was Serval.
"Everyone!"
"You're awake, Bronya. Good morning, how did you sleep last night?" March 7th greeted with a smile.
"...Pretty... pretty good."
Serval glanced at Leon, and seeing him nod, she then took out a compiled information report and handed it to Bronya.
The latter accepted it with confusion, and after scanning it for a moment, she looked up with a face full of shock.
This... this...
It was actually the opinion poll of all Belobog citizens!
There might still be some individual omissions, but the total number deviation wouldn't exceed a hundred or so.
"How did you manage this...?"
Serval laughed heartily: "Leon found me yesterday morning and asked me to secretly arrange something, which is the result you're seeing now."
Yesterday morning?
Wasn't that when she met Stelle and March 7th...?
"This is too fast..." Bronya found it hard to believe.
People from both the upper and lower districts had all cast their votes.
However, Seele's vote was the most special; she chose to abstain, claiming that no matter what decision Bronya ultimately made, she would support it.
Serval recalled the batch of strange incense burners Leon had given her, and could only maintain an expression of smiling without speaking.
That thing emitted a fragrance that would make people's consciousness hazy, make them honestly answer the inquirer's questions, and then forget about the matter.
The advantage was efficiency; the results were guaranteed to be authentic.
As for disadvantages... it couldn't really be said there were any, but the method wasn't exactly honorable.
She didn't have any resistance to this. In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures were necessary; it was always better than a minority's opinions representing the majority.
In the player's perspective, scene after scene of plot illustrations began to replay.
All were scenes of Leon acting alone.
Flying high in the sky overlooking the ground.
Landing on an iceberg that pierced straight into the sky, touching the ice layer.
In the lower district, eavesdropping on the conversation between Svarog and Topaz.
And—
Instructing Serval on what to do and learning about the 'efficiency' method used.
All players suddenly understood.
No wonder they encountered Leon at the mechanical house; it turned out he had long guessed Topaz's methods and silently arranged the follow-up matters.
At that time point, Serval had probably already arranged the personnel.
Thus, today they were able to obtain a reliable indication of public opinion in time.
Everything Leon did carried a strong sense of déjà vu of foreknowledge.
"No wonder he didn't go with me and March 7th to ask the choices of old acquaintances; it turns out he had arrangements long ago."
Ah Xian was extremely surprised.
The plot illustration hadn't ended yet.
Later on, there even flashed scenes of him together with Sampo, and even Sparkle in the same frame.
The players were completely shocked.
Sampo was one thing; at least he was a local.
What was Sparkle doing there?
But soon some players guessed the reason: because both Sampo and Sparkle were Masked Fools.
Moreover, Sparkle definitely had intersections with Leon.
In the previous plot, Sparkle had mentioned that Leon owed her something.
Presumably after waking up, Leon had returned the item to her.
What followed was the process of Sampo and Sparkle running around in the lower district, holding the incense burners together to collect public opinion.
[Reliable!]
[You can always trust Father!]
[Who was it before who said Leon came to participate in the celebration to slack off? Speak up!]
[Reliable adults always know to prepare for a rainy day, but being able to guess in advance what to do—he must have really opened it, right?]
[Opened? Is there a possibility that it was never closed?]
The voting results—
The number of votes opposing signing the contract and opposing the company's annexation of Belobog was exactly one more than the agreeing side.
If Bronya agreed, then together with Seele's portion, it would reverse the opposing side.
In other words, no matter what the final result was, in the end it still depended on Bronya herself to make the choice.
The difference was: Bronya had learned the will of the people and no longer had an excessive psychological burden.
But she would still hesitate and waver.
She sat silently in front of the desk, contemplating whether to sign the contract.
The people below were still arguing.
Leon and the others did not speak to interfere.
Time passed by the second.
As the final deadline given by Topaz approached closer and closer, the sounds of debate grew louder and louder—
She looked at the contract displayed on the terminal screen, her arm trembling slightly, moving left and right between the two buttons of "Agree" and "Reject".
For a long time, she failed to press down; the noisy sounds inevitably made one irritated.
"Enough, all of you stop!"
Bronya slapped the desk and suddenly stood up.
The entire office quickly fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"I know what to do."
Bronya took a deep breath, closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and was about to click on a certain button.
"—Please wait a moment!"
...
Kids, do you still remember Evitos? The backstab came so fast.
Fortunately, it was only a constructed codename, not an official one, and no specific appearance was written.
It's just that in terms of character setting, there's a bit of OOC. Before Asat Pramad became a Lord Ravager, he might have been in the Mourning Actors faction.
Oh right, the Chinese and English versions of the lyrics of "He Zhe" now basically have no secrets left.
The Chinese version is a description from Phainon's perspective, while the English version is from Cyrene's perspective. If you're interested, you can go listen to it again.