Some people are born leaders.
Every glance from them makes you willingly submit;
When they raise a hand, every pore on your body echoes their opinion;
When they speak, you instinctively know what to do.
Leadership is a feeling, a charisma.
Regardless of whether their decisions are correct or their abilities sufficient, you feel you should follow this person.
Even if their decisions fail, you don’t blame them, only thinking they made a mistake due to insufficient information or other reasons—
They themselves are not at fault.
It’s like at school or work: there are always people who can make boring topics fascinating and attention-grabbing, and people who can turn interesting things into nonsense and tedium.
So-called leaders are those who can articulate their ideals to override the listener’s will.
This was the first time Huaye faced such a person.
The halo above her head seemed to pause at that person’s gaze, and within her surged a genuine admiration and longing for the President from “Buzhihuo Huaye.”
‘This is… the superman in Buzhihuo Huaye’s heart… How terrifying… Though she looks like a girl, the feeling she gives me is no less than those national leaders…’
Like a lighthouse, you can always see her light.
Huaye hung her head, thinking silently.
She struggled to maintain her rationality, not letting herself be controlled by that almost enchanting sense of appeal.
She secretly lifted her head a little, glancing at the others—
Their states were almost the same:
Yuranoki Momoka, who was holding a bag of mentaiko potato chips, was still crunching away, but deliberately controlling her sound and posture;
Shanxi Kui, who had been doodling in her notebook, put down her pen and sat up straight, listening earnestly;
Qishen Lin pushed up her glasses, a solemn and focused expression on her face;
Even Yangui Bumeng, who had been trembling so much her halo shook, now seemed encouraged, her face serious as she bowed her head to listen.
Huaye withdrew her gaze, lowering her eyes to think about how she could ask even one question later.
She had a feeling that today she probably wouldn’t get the answers she wanted, from the moment she saw the President.
The President stood with her back to Kivotos, hands behind her, smiling gently at the five people at the table.
First, she looked down, saw the doll on the table, picked it up curiously, examined it for a moment, hung a happy smile on her lips, then gently put it back.
Her tone was warm and casual, yet with an inexplicable authority, as she spoke.
“Good morning, everyone!”
No one responded.
All bowed their heads, listening.
Only the President continued with a smile.
“Everyone came here because of my Momotalk message, right, right? Since the announcement concerns all of you first, I called you all over~ Sorry, because everyone’s busy, and only Momoka is always stationed at the Holy Tower, so I dragged the rest of you from your respective posts.”
No one spoke.
The President smiled, turned to look out the window at the Kivotos cityscape, which looked fragmented into countless blocks from the top of the Holy Tower.
Then she turned back, playfully pressed three fingers to her lips, half-squinting, and continued in a casual tone.
“Ah la la! There are only three things to say today! And they’re all related to Huaye!”
The others silently cast curious and probing glances at Buzhihuo Huaye, especially the chief of the General Affairs Office, Qishen Lin, whose serious expression showed difficulty and weariness upon hearing the President’s words, as if hesitating to ask a question.
Huaye, who was mentioned, stiffened.
The President, as if not noticing Huaye’s reaction, said matter-of-factly,
“First, last month I told everyone that I’m moving Huaye’s office to a building on the periphery of the Holy Tower~ Because Huaye’s original office was too small, you couldn’t stretch out, and there wasn’t even space to install a coffee machine for her.”
The President gave a playful smile.
“It’s already renovated! I’ve also asked the Transport Office to move Huaye’s things over. Lin, and Bumeng, if you need to find Huaye from now on, go there. Remember to update the files, Lin!”
Although Huaye didn’t know where her office was, the President’s bypassing her to arrange her office matters already indicated the nature of the affair—
She silently nodded in acknowledgment.
Beside her, Yangui Bumeng nodded nervously, her small wings unconsciously tapping the chair back.
Qishen Lin, expressionless, glanced at the President, then nodded heavily.
Seeing everyone’s reactions, the President seemed satisfied and nodded too, then paced leisurely around the conference room as if inspecting her territory.
“Second, I plan to assign Huaye’s Defense Office an advisor from outside Kivotos. Calling them an advisor, the official position is actually ‘Teacher,’ but since the Student Council currently has no vacant positions and Huaye’s work is too exhausting, I simply put him directly in the Defense Office!”
Although the President said this casually, this time everyone’s reaction was exceptionally strong and strange, even opposite to their previous posture of total obedience.
They all looked bewildered, as if unable to understand, exchanging glances as if confirming what they had just heard.
Finally, it was the Chief Administrative Officer, Qishen Lin, who reacted first.
She decisively raised her hand to indicate she wanted to speak.
After the President gave a gesture of permission, she stood up, with a resolute expression, and questioned.
“Are you joking?”
Meeting the President’s eyes, Qishen Lin’s expression was serious and solemn, speaking deliberately.
“Kivotos does not need interference from outsiders. Our Federal Student Council, under your leadership, can already manage the entire Kivotos quite well. Although there have been some recent movements from various companies, it shouldn’t have reached a point where we need to involve a strange outsider in defense affairs.”
Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened them, and continued with slight confusion.
“Moreover, as an outsider without a halo to protect them, they could be killed or injured by bullets or other weapons at any time. Involving them in the Defense Office, which most needs combat, is far too dangerous. If you cannot explain, I think none of us can psychologically accept this arrangement.”
‘The halo has a protective function?!’
Huaye, who had been secretly listening to Qishen Lin’s speech, changed expression, a hint of disbelief flashing in her eyes.
‘I have no questions about the President’s arrangements—outsider, new base, new position, it’s all checks on my power. But “Teacher”? Isn’t Kivotos an academy city? Don’t they have teachers? Also, outsiders without halos are easy to kill? What does that mean?! Do we have these things on our heads not just as lamps but also as body protection?’
Huaye felt vaguely that she had grasped a clue, a clue about why Kivotos was full of child soldiers…
The President smiled cheerfully, hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly, standing at one end of the long table looking at the somewhat puzzled and tired Lin.
“Lin, don’t get excited! Getting excited makes you age, you know. If Lin ages, how can I go to the amusement park with Lin? By then, Lin will have to stay outside and become a pitiful adult!”
Qishen Lin gave a wry smile.
“President, I believe I have told you that before making a decision, you should tell us the reason so we can better understand your intentions and execute your will…”
“Also, your sudden change of Huaye’s base has forced the General Affairs Office to work overtime for a whole month to sort out the documents… And now you say you want to add a new advisor, to be filled by an outsider… It’s really overwhelming…”
As a former corporate slave accustomed to guessing superiors’ intentions, Huaye couldn’t help but smile slightly.
She could see that the tall, serious Qishen Lin wasn’t so much refuting the President as complaining that the President hadn’t given advance notice, doubling her workload.
Like a child complaining to an adult that the homework assigned today is too heavy and hoping to do less.
But her concern about the outsider didn’t seem fake.
At least, Huaye could genuinely hear from her voice that if the President couldn’t give a reasonable explanation, Qishen Lin would truly choose to “oppose” the President, but only to protect the President’s reputation…
However, Huaye herself sneered at this approach.
While worrying about the leader and raising a hand to patch up the leader’s command right after they finish speaking can demonstrate one’s ability and loyalty…
But that’s the thinking of a mediocre person.
If the leader dares to say it, even if it’s not necessarily reasonable and might be a hot-headed mistake, to speak ill of the leader in front of others and find fault with them?
That position is definitely “being reassigned” horizontally.
Don’t you know if the leader has a contingency plan?
Don’t you give face to the leader?
And you still want to help the leader share the burden?
How can you have all the good things?
The best approach is to first execute, then come up with a remedial plan, and then at an opportune moment ask the leader for help under the guise of seeking advice, guidance, or supplementing, and preferably flatter the leader by praising their brilliance, then label the revised plan with the leader’s name, and then execute according to the leader’s wishes.
That is the superior strategy.
After hearing Qishen Lin’s speech, Huaye suddenly felt that compared to these kids, she might actually have some political talent—after all, judging from the clerk’s reaction earlier, she might really be quite powerful and able to intimidate those robots.
‘Could it be that this Federal Student Council is full of girls who don’t understand politics but are in government? If so, then Huaye could indeed be considered capable, since in terms of position and power, she is second only to the President.’
As Huaye expected, the superhuman President indeed had a plan ready.
She waved her hand casually, smiled mischievously, and pretended to be willful.
“I won’t say. Lin, why do you have to dig into everything? Anyway, I’ve already prepared preventive measures!”
But Qishen Lin still pressed firmly.
“We must understand what kind of measures they are to better execute your will.”
Seeing Qishen Lin’s persistent questioning, then looking at the expressions of others present—
Basically, these kid’s thoughts were written on their faces:
They were all very concerned about the so-called measures to bridge the gap between outsiders and students…
Huaye suddenly felt that she might not be bad as a little political expert after all.
These kids were really naive and immature.
Just in terms of reading the leader’s face, even as a bottom-tier corporate slave, she could leave them in the dust.
But this new leader seemed not to care about that.
She just waved her hand, with a mysterious grin.
“I’ll only say part of it. It’s the ‘Shittim Box.’”
Upon hearing this term, although everyone still had utterly confused expressions, they seemed to reluctantly accept the explanation.
Only Huaye pretended to understand, but inwardly wondered.
‘Shittim Box? What’s that again?’
Another term from her lost memories…
And the President, seeing that no one had further questions, brought up the last matter.
“The last thing…”
Boom! Rumble!
A huge explosion came from outside the Holy Tower, interrupting the President at a delicate moment.
Visible explosions occurred at the edge of sight—
Buildings there collapsed one after another, raising towering gray dust! Shells kept flying from the sky toward that corner, overturning house after house in the blasts!
Huaye froze for a moment, then her halo spun wildly.
‘The black market at the edge of the White Bird District is under attack?! No, the White Bird District is being attacked by the black market!’
‘The black market wouldn’t act on its own. Behind it stands Kaiser Corporation, one of Kivotos’s giant corporations. And the previous Federal Student Councils always cooperated with Kaiser, often turning a blind eye to their black market. They couldn’t suddenly turn against the current President’s administration!’
‘And such a large-scale attack must involve many delinquent students. Only a corporation could pay those kids’ appearance fees…’
‘So the mastermind can only be—’
And the President smiled lightly.
“This is the third thing I want to say. Huaye, lately those companies dissatisfied with the anti-merger bill have been a bit too active. Can you take the children from the Valkyrie Police Department to ‘calm them down’? It might make them unhappy, but if this continues, they’ll be crossing the line a little.”
Buzhihuo Huaye immediately narrowed her eyes and nodded.
Her emerald horizontal pupils stared fixedly at the dust clouds rising at the edge of the White Bird District.
“Understood, Madam President. I’ll handle it quickly.”
She rose from her seat, moving gracefully and swiftly toward the door, reaching into her hidden pocket to take out her phone—
“One more thing, Huaye. I just saw that the teacher I selected also seems to have just gotten off in that area… Huaye, can you bring the teacher back as well?”
“—Huh?”
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